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Gabon: Health workers strike over unpaid salaries

The Gabonese government is under pressure from health workers across the country over unpaid salaries.

The strikers are demanding unpaid premiums, higher wages and better working conditions.

The government has not budged.

Joel Ella Ondo, president of the Union of Health Staff said: “Today all health workers understand that their concerns are being undermined and there is no dialogue. We will have to act as we demand legislation. It is for this reason that today, you see that all the centers here in Gabon are closed.”

Casimir Moussavou, a medical doctor said “we want to reopen provincial schools so that there is training. We can not have beautiful buildings, pretty hospitals that do not have people trained to work there. A hospital like Libreville University Hospital should accommodate over 3000 but this hospital does not even have the 60 percent staff which is not normal.”

This week’s strike follows a large-scale strike between June and August 2015.